March 11, 2001 SportsLine.com wire reports

LAS VEGAS -- Mekeli Wesley was one of coach Steve Cleveland's first recruits when he took the job of rebuilding a Brigham Young program four years ago.

The senior forward scored 30 points, 21 in the second half, to complete the rebuilding process as the Cougars beat New Mexico, 69-65. BYU won the Mountain West Conference Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995.

"It's a work in progress," said Wesley, who at one point scored 15 straight points for the Cougars in the second half. "The program has come a long way since going 1-25 (in 1997). It's hard to imagine ..."

In the championship game, the Cougars (23-8) were led by seniors Wesley, the tournament MVP, Trent Whiting (15 points) and Terrell Lyday (11 points).

"This is a very unselfish team," Lyday said. "We have to get the person the ball who's playing well. Whoever's playing well, that's who we go to."

In the second half, that player was Wesley.

Wesley was 7-of-8 from the field in the second half, his only miss coming on a 3-point attempt. He was 7-for-8 on free throws in the half.

"Mekeli is the best player in the league and he obviously showed it tonight," said New Mexico's Brian Smith. "We didn't have an answer for him. We tried double-teams, single-teams, everything."

Brigham Young didn't have much of an answer for the New Mexico duo of Marlon Parmer and Ruben Douglas, who scored 14 points apiece and helped keep the game close until the final seconds. Wayland White added 11 points for the Lobos (19-12) before fouling out midway through the second half.

The Cougars led 64-57 with 2:25 remaining, but Douglas hit a 3-pointer and Smith added two free throws to pull the Lobos within 64-62 with 58 seconds remaining.

Wesley answered with a layup, but Parmer cut the lead to 66-65 with a 3-pointer with 18.9 seconds remaining. Wesley was fouled and hit one free throw to give the Cougars a two-point lead with 17.5 seconds remaining.

Parmer missed a 3-pointer and Whiting hit two free throws with 4.7 seconds left to seal the victory.

Brigham Young led by 11 points after outscoring the Lobos 9-4 to start the second half. The Lobos came back and cut the lead to 42-37 on a three-point play and a 3-point field goal by Parmer.

Brigham Young held the lead throughout the second half as Wesley, playing the last eight minutes with four fouls, scored 15 straight points.

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